Definition

In Ohio, local communities are allowed, by law, to join their citizens together to buy natural gas and/or electricity as a group and thereby gain buying power to solicit the lowest price for the group's natural gas and/or electricity needs. This is called Governmental Aggregation. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) presents the following information to help you understand the process if your community decides to aggregate.

Aggregation is when a group of customers join together to form a single, larger customer that buys energy for its members. A large buying group may be able to get a better price for the group members than you can get on your own.

Governmental Aggregation

Ohio's laws allow for communities, such as townships, cities, and counties, to form the aggregated buying groups on behalf of their citizens. The governmental aggregator chooses an outside supplier for all of the customer-members in its group. Aggregations can be formed to buy natural gas, electricity, or both.

All governmental aggregators buying electricity must be certified by the PUCO. Communities that aggregate to buy natural gas are required to be certified by the PUCO unless they aggregate under an Ohio Constitution provision which allows home rule or the right for communities to take action under their own charters. If an aggregator is going to provide natural gas and/or electric buying services, it must be certified separately for each industry. Certification by the PUCO means they have met strict requirements for doing business in Ohio. Therefore, you can participate with confidence.